Is Male Gender Authority Biblical?

The popular belief in “ male” gender authority, is found with in the church as well as much of society in general. A lot of misguided people, both male and female, Christian or other wise would tell you that the answers to that question is yes. But the truth is found in what the word Authority really means.

The word “ authority “ according to the dictionary means to give advice, opinion, influence or command . The word “authority” can be used to mean power given by the state (in the form of members of government, judges, police officers, etc.) or by academic knowledge of an area (someone can be an authority on a subject).

The truth is, God has placed an entire network of people in this world into positions of common authority ( male and female). I'm not just referring to our government leaders, and law enforcement, but also to the leaders in our workplaces. And His word tells us that we should submit to our authority figures, not just woman but men as well .

Romans 13:1-3 says, "Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all ( governing) authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you."

But sometimes, people take on positions of authority that is not ordained by God, but comes through cultural and biblical conceptions that are not based on sound biblical teachings. One such teachings concerns “male” gender authority. Quite often when addressing this issue of who has authority over us as woman, we are told that we have no other choice but to submit to “male” gender authority. As if men are the only ones ordained by God to hold positions of Authority in our government, our church, and any other area of our lives. Thus we most submit to these authority figures with out question.

Personally, I have known men, that will not work for a woman, believing it is not right for him to submit to a woman’s authority. I have known women that became slaves to the demands of the men in their lives ( fathers , brothers, husbands, the mail man ) because they believe that men are some how superior and thus they most submit to them in all things. And yet, nowhere in the bible does it say, we should submit as women to “male” gender authority.

Even though the Scriptures never portray women as secondary to men, our male-dominated religious system still promotes a warped view of female inferiority. Women are tired of this, and they have a right to feel this way. As a woman that has been slapped down a few time do to the misconceptions concerning “male” authority, such attitudes towards women does not reflect God's true heart.

Jesus challenged gender prejudice at its core when He directed so much of His ministry toward women. In a Middle Eastern culture in which He was born, they considered women mere property. Jesus healed women, disciple them and commissioned them to minister. Yet, today the male dominated ministry, spend much of their energy denying us as women opportunities--and using the Bible to defend their prohibitions.

The most common misconceptions that are made in biblical interpretation occurs when we take one isolated verse and build a doctrine around it--even if the verse seems to contradict other passages. This is what has been done with 1 Tim. 2:12, "I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man" This was one man’s opinion and was not intended to be a doctrine with in the Christian church.

But to help fix a problem in one particular church. And yet , 1 Tim. 2:12 is not the only scripture to be used to give men authority over women.

It is the conception of most modern churches that a woman cannot minister or even be present in church, unless her head is covered. This idea came from a distorted interpretation of the Apostle Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 11:3, "the head of woman is man". Ministers have used these words to bolster the idea that women are subservient to men or that they cannot approach God without a “male” authority figure in their lives. This conception can leave a widow or single woman , who has no covering, depending on her pastor to fulfill that role. And being disappointed when he fails to take her belief in her own need for a covering seriously.

The Apostle Paul was not placing men in a position of generic ruler ship over women. Because there is "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. " (see Gal. 3:28), women can pray, worship, study the Bible or minister without a man present. How silly to think that a man, because of his gender, could add credibility to prayer or Spirit-empowered ministry! To believe this would be to trust in the flesh.

Jesus issued His first gospel commission to women (see Matt. 28:1-10), and both men and women were empowered to preach on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). Priscilla, Chloe and Phoebe were leaders in the early church, and one woman, Junia, is called an apostle by Paul (Rom. 16:7).

The promise of the prophet Joel was that "sons and daughters" would prophesy after the Holy Spirit was given to the church (Joel 2:28, emphasis added). Yet we have taken one misunderstood verse from Paul's writings and used it to negate hundreds of other passages that support the full release of women into ministry. And in doing so have given the “male” gender illegitimate authority over every Christian woman, it does not matter what a mans relationship is with a female.

Being set free from the conception that every man has authority over us a woman, give us a freedom of spirit to explore all of our God given abilities and talents, an gives us back our self-respect!